Author: Sophie

White chilli

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Comforting chicken casserole with Tex-Mex flavours, pale creams and beiges, offset with flashes of green on top. Classic spoon eating.

  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Black pepper
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 2 large green chillis, finely chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper, chopped
  • 600ml chicken stock
  • 1 tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 100ml milk
  • Meat from 4 chicken thighs, poached for 8 mins in the stock and then chopped/shredded
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
  • Fresh coriander, avocado, grated cheddar, tortilla chips, pickled jalapenos
  1. Heat the the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins until soft
  2. Add garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, chilli and yellow pepper
  3. Stir and cook for 5 mins, then add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins
  4. Add the milk, cannellini beans and chicken. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins
  5. Finally stir in the lime juice and the cornflour slurry and stir until thickened
  6. Serve with rice, sprinkled with fresh coriander, diced avocado, grated cheese, crumbled tortilla chips and pickled jalapenos

Hot and sour Chinese cabbage

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Takes a bland and slightly soggily-inclined vegetable and makes it mighty. As a side dish (to this pork belly perhaps) or comforting dinner on its own with rice. Comes together so quickly and easily. Feeds 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main

  • ½ Chinese cabbage aka Napa cabbage aka Chinese leaf ~ 450g of it
  • 1½ tbsp black vinegar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 60ml water
  • 1 tbsp veg oil
  • 100g pancetta/smoked bacon, cut into pieces
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 dried chillis
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp chilli oil
  1. Separate the leaves of the cabbage, halve them lengthways and cut into bite-sized pieces
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the black vinegar, soy sauce, cornflour, sugar and water. Set aside.
  3. Heat a wok over medium/high heat
  4. Add the oil and bacon, stir fry until the bacon browns
  5. Then chuck in the garlic and dried chillis and fry for 10 seconds or so until fragrant (do not burn)
  6. Add the cabbage and stir fry until the leafy parts wilt, whilst the white parts remain crunchy – add a splash of water if it’s looking a bit dry and potentially burn-y
  7. Add the spring onion and stir in, turn the heat down
  8. Give the sauce a good mix in its bowl, then pour over the ingredients in the wok. Stir everything together well
  9. Remove from the heat as soon as the sauce thickens, give a final stir to ensure the thick sauce coats everything evenly
  10. Drizzle over chilli oil and serve immediately

The best ever rocky road

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Crunchy, creamy, sticky, salty and sweet. This is just the thing to make for the oops-I-forgot school fete, tween birthday party, or a rainy Saturday afternoon when no-one wants to do anything but everyone wants a treat.

  • 125g salted butter
  • 300g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 3 tbsp golden syrup
  • 120g malted milk biscuits
  • 60g maltesers
  • 60g salted pretzels
  • 100g mini marshmallows
  1. Put the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a saucepan and melt together over a low heat then set aside to cool a bit
  2. While it’s melting, roughly crush the biscuits, pretzels and maltesers into a combination of crumbs and small pieces (easily to do this separately and then mix them due to different crumbling points!)
  3. Tip the biscuit combo into a bowl and pour over the melted chocolate mixture
  4. Stir together gently and then add the marshmallows and stir again
  5. Tip into a foil-lined tin and flatten out roughly with a spoon
  6. Put in the fridge for a couple of hours or until you want to serve it
  7. Cut into pieces and dust with icing sugar if you’re feeling extra

Black rice salad

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

This substantial salad is just The Absolute Best. Feeds 4

  • 300g black rice
  • 200g long stem broccoli, cut into thirds
  • 150g sugar snap peas
  • ¼ red cabbage, shredded
  • 150g radishes, trimmed and sliced
  • 150g edamame beans
  • 100g pumpkin seeds, toasted
  • 1 avocado, stone removed and cut into wedges at the last minute
  • 60g cashews
  • 100ml cold water
  • 1 cm ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp white miso
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil
  • 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • ½ tsp salt
  1. Boil a pot of salted water, add the rice and simmer for 30 mins
  2. In the meantime, steam the broccoli and sugar snaps. Rinse under cold water when cooked.
  3. Mix the salad ingredients (everything from broccoli to pumpkin seeds) in a large bowl
  4. Make the dressing with a hand blender by whizzing together the cashews, water, ginger. miso, rapeseed oil, sheery vinegar, maple syrup and salt until smooth
  5. When the rice is done, drain and then rinse with cold water to cool
  6. Mix into the salad ingredients, add the avocado and dress just before serving

Serve with grilled halloumi, drizzled with hot honey

Sweet potato pancakes

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

If you happen to have a leftover roast sweet potato, this is exactly the way to use it up. Just the thing for Sunday brunch, served with lashings of bacon AND maple syrup. Feeds 2 hungry people

  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1 sweet potato, roasted whole then peeled and mashed
  • 150ml milk
  • 50g plain yoghurt
  • 20g butter, melted
  • 200g flour
  • 3 tbsp fine polenta
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • Veg oil
  1. In a medium bowl with clean whisk, whisk egg whites to soft peaks
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sweet potato, egg yolks, milk, yoghurt and melted butter
  3. In another separate bowl (or just on the scales), mix together flour, polenta, salt, baking powder and sugar
  4. Tip the flour mixture into the sweet potato mixture and stir until smooth
  5. Then fold the egg whites gently into the pale orange batter
  6. Heat veg oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, then add small ladlefuls of batter into the hot oil
  7. Fry on both sides until golden brown and restrain yourself from eating them before they get to the table

If easier (or you just like your pancakes square) you can also cook this in a lined baking tin at 180C fan for 18 mins

Chicken wonton meatballs

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A delectable naked wonton for when simplicity is more important than authenticity. A perfect addition to soups, noodles, egg-fried rice. If you’re feeling extra, eat them banh mi-style in a baguette with spicy mayo, pickled carrot, cucumber ribbons and fresh coriander. Or just have them plain in a lunchbox next to some sugar snap peas and sweet chilli sauce for dipping.

  • 400g minced chicken
  • 4 spring onions, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
  • Small handful fresh coriander
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 3 tbsp cornflour
  • 1 egg
  • Veg oil
  1. With a hand blender or small food processor, puree the spring onions, garlic, ginger and coriander with athe soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar and white pepper
  2. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg and then add the aromatic puree you’ve just created, plus the chicken mince and cornflour
  3. Mix well. The texture is very odd, but trust the process
  4. Leave to stand for 15 mins to firm up a bit
  5. Heat a large frying pan with a swirl of veg oil and use a spoon to plop meatballs/mini-burgers into the pan
  6. Cook for a few mins on each side until golden and cooked through

Oh oh, you could also join the very trendy trend on tiktok and have this as a SMASH TACO (because I know about these things due to being Very Young and Hip of course). If you want to do this, it is delicious as well as being fashionable. Just follow all the steps up to #4 and then press the mixture in a thin-ish layer onto small soft tacos. And then press a coating of sesame seeds onto the top of the chicken (being careful not to contaminate your entire stock of sesame seeds with your chickeny hands). Cook them face-down in a large frying pan in a smidge of oil, and when brown flip them over and toast face-up briefly. Top with an artful drizzle of sriracha mayo, shredded lettuce, fresh coriander and fold in half to eat by the glow of your ring light.

Hot honey

~ Sophie ~ 1 Comment

Addictively spicy and sweet, this is gorgeous drizzled over cheese, preserved meat, grilled chicken. Or in fact just Greek yoghurt. Makes half a jar

  • 200g honey
  • 3 big red chillis
  • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
  1. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan
  2. Slowly bring to the boil – don’t let it erupt all over the stove – and simmer for 3 mins
  3. Pour into a jar, stick the lid on and leave it to cool
  4. Keep it in the fridge and use it on everything

After a week or so you can strain out the bits if you like. Or just leave them in for extra spiciness!

Chorizo broccoli pasta

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Inspired by James Acaster’s love of chorizo broccoli pasta and tweaked from Tom Kerridge’s recipe by the same name, this is the perfect weeknight supper. Flavour-heavy and difficulty-light. Feeds 2 hungry people

  • 250g pasta shapes
  • 1 tsp veg oil
  • 200g cooking chorizo, diced
  • 200g long stem broc, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped but not deseeded
  • 3 tsp capers, roughly chopped
  • 30g parmesan, grated
  • Handful parsley, chopped
  • Zest of ½ lemon
  1. Boil pasta in plenty of salted boiling water for as long as it needs
  2. While it cooks, heat oil in deep frying pan over medium heat and fry the chorizo until it starts to get crispy
  3. Add garlic and stir until fragrant
  4. Then add broccoli, chilli and capers, plus a splash of pasta water for the steam, and cook for 5 mins or so until broccoli is just tender
  5. Drain the pasta, retaining 250ml pasta water. Add the cooked pasta and about two thirds of the saved pasta water
  6. Stir together vigorously, add the parmesan and continue to stir until it emulsifies into a glossy orange sauce
  7. Season with lemon zest, plenty of black pepper and salt to taste (remembering that the chorizo, cheese and capers are already salty)
  8. Serve immediately, topped with the chopped parsley and more parmesan if you like

Banana oat muffins

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Perfectly soft and springy, moist and banana-y, not too sweet. The perfect breakfast!

  • 180g plain flour, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 80g rolled oats
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp ground flax seed
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 180ml milk
  • 80ml veg oil
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  1. Pre-heat oven to 190C fan (200C) and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners
  2. Combine flour, oats, flax seed, sugar, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium bowl
  3. In a separate, larger bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil and vanilla, then stir in mashed bananas
  4. Add in the flour mixture and stir until just combined
  5. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cases, filling three quarters full. Sprinkle with some extra oats on each one
  6. Bake for 18-20 mins until golden and springy. Cool on a rack and then store in an airtight container

Green bean tahini salad

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Jazz up your green beans with this creamy-piquant little number

  • 300g green beans, topped and tailed
  • 1 heaped tbsp tahini
  • 2 tbsp greek yoghurt
  • 4 tbsp water
  • ½ tsp garlic oil or ½ clove garlic, grated
  • Squeeze of lemon juice
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted until brown in a dry pan
  1. Cook your green beans in or above boiling water for a few mins until just al dente
  2. While they’re cooking, whisk up the rest of the ingredients into a creamy smooth sauce
  3. Pour sauce over hot beans and combine gently
  4. Pop into your mouth